Advertising sign



Jan. 11, 1938.

R. A. BENNETT ET AL.

' ADVERTISING SIGN I Filed Feb. '19, 19521 2 Sheets-Sheet .1

Jan. 11, 1938. R. A. BENNETT ET AL.

ADVERTISING S IGN Filed Feb. l9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 11, 1938 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE Ray A. Bennett and Marion A. Sneed, Long Beach, Calif.

Application February 19, 193.4, Serial No. 711,964

7 Claims. .Thisz-invention relates to 1 an advertising sign wherein/there is a pluralitywof compartments,

each"v compartment being. covered by a transparent or translucent sheet, and said compartments'sbelng: successively illuminated. by a 1 novel timed" contactv arrangement.

An object of oursinvention' is to provide an advertising sign. comprising a plurality of com'-' partments, each of. whichhas a light therein, said lights.being'successively and continuously lit by noveltimed contact arrangement.

"""Another object. is to provide an advertising sign of' the character stated, inwhich a pluralitysf of; commutators separately controls the various lights. in the sign, the contact. brush on the: various; commutators being. driven at differentiratesof. speed whereby the various. lights are litfiin. succession for varying lengths of time.

A further object is to provide an advertising sigmoiithe character stated, in which pointers pass over thesuriace of the sign, said pointers extending to each sign in turn as it is illuminated.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawings, the subjolned detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of our sign with the top transparent or translucent plates removed.

Figure 2 is a transverse, sectional view of the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevation of one .form of commutator.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan View of the commutator shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of commutator, the wiring arrangement being shown in connection therewith.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the commutator shown inFigureb.

Figure 7 is a plan view of a third type of commutator, the wiring arrangement being shown in connection therewith.

Figure 8 is a transverse, sectional view of the commutator shown in Figure '7.

Figure 9 is a wire diagram of the commutator arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral I indicates a sign housing in which we provide a plurality'of radial partition walls 2 to form compartments 3. g

A chronometer or motor 4 is mounted in the center of'the housing I and drives three shafts 5, 6 and I. These shafts are driven at different rates of speed, for example, one making a revo- (Cl. MI -52) lution each twelve hours, another, each hour, and the third, each minute. Commutators 8, 9 and. Hi are: stationarily mounted around each of the shafts 5, '6. and 1, respectively. Each commutator is provided with a plurality of contact buttons. II, the number of buttons'coinciding with the. number of compartments 3'.

The shafts 5, 6; and. I. are each provided with a spring contact finger 12 which rotates therewith-and engages the;contact buttons l l. Asthe shafts. rotate,.the springhfingers will successively contact the buttons H- and will light an electric bulb i3rineachlof the. compartments 3.

The bulbs l3 are electrically connected to the contact buttons l I, as shown in Figure 9, and as 15 the spring contact fingers l2 rotate, the bulbs will be successively lit for varying lengths of time.

Three pointers, l4, l5 and I6 extend over the compartments 3. and rotate at the same rate of speed as the shafts-5, 6 andl, respectively. Thus. SZSBfiChtbUJ-b is lit in a compartment, the pointer will extend over thetop ,of the compartment,- calling attention to the advertising sign displayed on a transparent or translucent cover.

' In Figures 5 and 6, we have shown a commutator I! which consists of a plurality of segments [8, in each of which there is provided a plurality of contacts l9 arranged in concentric rows.

Three contact arms 20, are separately mounted on co-axial shafts, and a spring finger 2| extends downwardly from each of the arms to engage the contacts IS in succession. The wiring arrangement is substantially the same as previously described, in that the light bulbs l3 are lit in succession as the contact arms 20 sweep over the various contacts l9. There is one light bulb 13 for each segment Hi.

In Figures '7 and 8, a-commutator 22 is provided with three concentric rows of upstanding contact bars 23, 24 and 25. Three contact arms 26, 21 and 28 are each mounted on a separately driven shaft and the shafts are co-axially arranged. Each of the arms 26, 21 and 28 is provided with a spring contact finger 29 which 45 engages the contacts 23, 24 and 25 in succession t6 light the bulbs l3.

Each radial row of contacts is joined by a bus bar 30 which is, in turn, electrically connected to one of the bulbs. The spring contact fingers are so arranged that they will maintain contact over a considerable period of time, while the contact arm to which it is attached, is slowly rotating. When the contact finger slides off of contact, it will then swing over and engage the next adjacent contact.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. An advertising sign comprising a housing, a plurality of compartments in the housing, a transparent cover on each compartment, said cover having advertisements thereon, a bulb in each of the compartments, a plurality of rows of contacts, each row of contacts being electrically connected to said bulbs, a contact finger for each row of contacts, and means to rotate said contact fingers at different rates of speed relative to each other, each contact finger continuously closing a circuit to a bulb while engaging a contact.

2. An advertising sign comprising a housing, a plurality of compartments in the housing, a transparent cover on each compartment, said cover having advertisements thereon, a bulb in each of the compartments, a plurality of rows of contacts, each row of contacts being electrically connected to said bulbs, a contact finger for each row of contacts, means to rotate said contact fingers at diiferent rates of speed relative to each other, a plurality of pointers extending over the housing, said pointers being rotated at the same rates of speed as the contact fingers, each contact finger continuously closing a circuit to a bulb While engaging a contact.

3. An advertising sign comprising a housing, a plurality of radial walls in the housing, forming compartments, a transparent cover on each compartment, said cover having advertisements thereon, a chronometer at the center of the housing, a plurality of rows of contact buttons, a plurality of shafts, said shafts being rotated at difierent rates of speed, means operably connecting the shafts and the chronometer, a contact finger secured to each of the shafts, said contact finger being adapted and arranged to engage a row of contacts, and an electric bulb in each of the compartments, said bulbs being electrically connected to each of the rows of contacts, each contact finger continuously closing a circuit to a bulb while engaging a contact.

4. An electric sign comprising a housing, said housing having a plurality of compartments therein, a transparent cover on each compartment, said cover having advertisements thereon, a chronometer in the center of the housing, a commutator, a plurality of co-axial shafts extending thru the center of the commutator, a plurality of concentric rows of contact buttons on the commutator, a contact arm attached to each of the co-axial shafts, said contact arm being adapted and arranged to successively engage contact buttons in one of said rows, a light bulb in each of the compartments, each of said light bulbs being electrically connected to a radial row of contact buttons, each contact finger continuously closing a circuit to a bulb while engaging a contact.

5. An electric sign comprising a housing','said housing having a plurality of compartments therein, a transparent cover on each compartment, said cover having advertisements thereon, a chronometer in the center of the housing, a commutator, a plurality of co-axial shafts extending thru the center of the commutator, a plurality of concentric rows of contact buttons on the commutator, a contact arm attached to each of the co-axial shafts, said contact arm being adapted and arranged to successively engage contact buttons in one of said rows, a light bulb in each of the compartments, each of said light bulbs being electrically connected to a radial row of contact buttons, and a spring finger in each of the contact arms, said spring finger engaging the contact buttons, each contact finger continuously closing a circuit to a bulb while engaging a contact.

MARION A. SNEED. RAY A. BENNETT. 

